Is Burn ICU enough for CRNA school

perkizme · Dec 18, 2008

I would check with the schools you are applying to. Most seem to take medical, surgical, cardiac, neuro and even some pediatric ICUs. Probably depends on the experiences you will have on a daily basis. I imagine you will have vents but will you get enough experience with drips, codes, pressure monitoring (a-lines, swans, etc.), and other stuff that other types of ICUs typically have. I tend to hear about MICU, SICU, CVICU acceptance and haven't specifically heard of anyone from burn units (not that it doesnt happen). Personally I came from a CCU and was nervous because I thought they preferred surgical ICU but I had the right experiences that I was accepted for 2009. Good luck!! :reindeer:

Burn12 · Dec 18, 2008

It depends on the unit. The one I work in provides excellent experience for and has sent a lot of nurses to CRNA school. When you interview, make sure you ask details on the acuity of the patients, such as the frequency pressors are used, arterial lines, ventilators, etc. Regarding CRNA schools, make sure that you contact the schools you are interested in attending to check if BICU is acceptable experience. Good luck! Burn nursing is intense but very rewarding.

sarahneeyah · Dec 19, 2008

Thanks you guys,

But I actually was interviewed for a MICU position. Go figure. I am greatful for the opportunity. The interview went very well. She said that I should hear something by the second week of January due to the holiday. Because I have no ICU experience, I will have to sign a two year commitment with them, but I think the trade off is worth it. She also made me aware that most nurses last two to three years on the unit due to CRNA schools, but I didn't let her know that I desire to do that one day. I figure let me prove my work ethics first.

RedCell · Dec 23, 2008

Hi you guys,
I will be interviewing for a position in Burn ICU. I was wondering if you can give me your input on if I will acquire enough experience for CRNA school in this unit. Also, will the schools I apply to accept Burn unit ICU for entrance into the program. Better yet, do you know of anyone who got in with experience in the burn unit? I would appreciate your input.

If you look at the AANA website you will see that the actual requirement is critical care not ICU. ICU means a lot of different things to hospitals around the US. Some people who say they are ICU nurses are really working in a glorifed med/surg unit with telemetry. Others are dealing with cool toys like VADS, IABPs, CVVH, Swans, tons of vasoactive drips, and above all... a decent amount of autonomy.

I did not work in a burn unit prior to anesthesia school, however I can say working in the burn OR sucked. It was hot, and the patients were all over the place. Most of them required lots of volume replacement, inotropes and sometimes toys to keep them from meeting Jesus. The nurses that recovered these poor bastards in the burn ICU at this particular institution were outstanding and got to play with most of the toys anesthesia had when we were done with them. Many of the RNs there were applying to CRNA and ACNP school. Im sure many of them will soon be starting their desired programs of study.

If you go to a burn ICU that deals with patients under the same conditions you will have no trouble in regards to your clinical background when applying to school.

LadyinGreen · Nov 4, 2009

I will be starting on the Burn Unit at a Level 1 trauma hospital in Feb 2010. I'm a new grad and am thrilled with the opportunity. My ultimate goal is also CRNA school. I started out as a tech in the PACU and snuck into surgeries to shadow every chance I could. My Burn Unit also takes ICU patients also. I took this job with the hope of autonomy on my unit and establishing a unique set of knowledge I can bring to a CRNA program. Its my understanding that schools choose a variety of backgrounds for each class. Can anyone tell me otherwise? Advice for an ambitious/eager to learn BSN? LadyinGreen (hence my scrub color :))

cleo202 · Dec 3, 2009

i know 3 nurses on my floor ( burn ICU) who got into CRNA school. 2 got into Columbia and 1 got into UMDNJ

jocey768 · Jul 6, 2011

I work in a level one trauma center that has trauma pts, burn pts, and neuro pts. Essentially being a burn icu, trauma icu, neuro icu. I feel as though you will probably get more experience than just burns, there just aren't that many. At times.. you might not have any! I did the same thing signing a 2 year contract as a GN. Its been a great experience. You will learn more than you ever would think possible.

shandsburnRN-CRNA · Jul 8, 2011

Hello,

I am a CRNA. My critical care/ICU experience came solely from a Burn ICU. The unit I worked in is part of a Level I trauma center so we got all the big burns. My experiences are pretty much what RedCell described, our patients were very sick, usually the sickest in the entire hospital. We used and managed every type of invasive line and monitoring you can think of....some that were still investigational.

You will be well versed in using just about every vasoactive medicine known, especially if you are proactive and take the sickest patients. When these patients get septic they do it fast and they do it heavy.

One thing I particuarly found useful in coming from a Burn ICU prior to anesthesia school was fluid & electrolyte balance/replacement, that seemed to be a big hurdle for some students but for me it was a piece of cake because of that experience. You'll be able to do fluid calculations in your sleep:yeah: Another plus coming from the Burn ICU is administration of controlled meds (i.e. Fentanyl, Versed, etc), our patients, especially the major burns, survived on those two infusions, so another perk, for me, was having a good understanding of controlled meds prior to anesthesia school.

Vents....90% of our patients were mechanically ventilated, if not for lung injury, because of the massive 3rd spacing that occurs with major burn injury. Most of our vented patients went on to be trached, a few choice patients were even double vented, i.e. the lungs were isolated from each other and vented individually. This was due to severe fibrosis of a lung from a burn injury that effected one lung worse than the other and the pressures needed to inflate each lung were grossly mismatched.

Point being, you shouldn't have any problem entering CRNA school with only Burn ICU experience. Oh one other thing, as horrible as it is, if your unit does peds, thats a plus too. Peds can be scary little creatures in anesthesia, any experience you can get with them will be an added benefit to you.

Good Luck!!!

puravidaLV · Jul 11, 2011

Good information in this post.